Broken Saddle
by Tiggercat12
Summary: Ruffnut has a job for Hiccup and decides to stick around for a while. (A short thing I wrote while on a trip)


"Hiccup, you here?"

Hiccup was in the workshop working on one of his contraptions. It was a free day for the kids, so everyone was off doing their own thing.

Placing the metal rod he had been hammering aside, Hiccup said, "Yeah, I'm here!" before grabbing some leather strips.

Ruffnut appeared a few seconds later, something draped over her shoulder. She walked over to Hiccup and watched him for a moment before saying "I need you to fix this" and tossing the object she had on the table, causing Hiccup to jump.

Hiccup wiped some sweat from his forehead and asked, "And what is it that needs fixing exactly?"

The Thorston girl pointed a thumb at the object and said, "One of Barfbelch's saddles broke." Hiccup looked at the beat up saddle, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah, no kidding… What did you do?"

"It's a long story," was Ruffnut's answer. Hiccup gave her a look and she responded with a shrug and a grin. The boy rolled his eyes. "Just let me finish this real quick," he said, moving the broken saddle aside and continuing what he had been doing before Ruffnut showed up. "I'll probably have the saddle fixed by this afternoon, so you can get it then."

"Thanks," the girl said. Hiccup expected her to leave then, finished with the errand she had to run, but she stayed. He tried to ignore Ruffnut as she watched him work with the leather strips and metal rod. After a few minutes of her standing behind his shoulder, he turned to say something to her, but was interrupted before he could.

"What are you doing?"

Sighing, Hiccup went back to work. "I'm making something to keep the Terrible Terrors entertained so they'll stop breaking things."

He heard Ruffnut snort and turned around to see she had put a hand on her hip. "What?" he asked, brushing a few stray hairs from his face.

"You're no fun," she stated. Hiccup rolled his eyes and turned away. He finished the Terror toy and went on to the saddle. Ruffnut still hadn't left, continuing to hover, looking over the boy's shoulder.

Once maybe fifteen minutes or so went by, Hiccup finally said, "You're kind of making me feel comfortable," as he turned around. A split second later Hiccup's cheeks turned pink as he realized just how close he and Ruffnut were; their noses were almost touching. He quickly stepped away from her, bumping into the table.

"Uh, s-sorry," he stammered, clumsily catching something before it fell to the ground. Ruffnut only smirked.

"I'll, uh…yeah," Hiccup muttered, turning back to the saddle on the table. Ruffnut reappeared at his shoulder a minute later. The boy tried to ignore her again, but it didn't work well, just like before.

After a somewhat long silence and a lot of thinking Hiccup asked, "Did you just break the saddle so you could watch me?"

"Why would I do that?" Ruffnut said, arms crossed. "Because, you're Ruffnut," he stated, glancing over his shoulder. Ruffnut made a face, but he wasn't sure of what it meant.

He continued to work on the saddle, Ruffnut at his shoulder the whole time, watching his hands as they moved. Hiccup kept hoping the twins would leave, not really used to being watched.

Eventually, much to Hiccup's relief, the girl left to go sit on a stool a few feet away. Finally free of her gaze, the boy was able to work at his normal speed.

Hiccup heard something snap and when he turned to see what it was he saw that Ruffnut had vanished, a broken stick at the foot of the stool.

Shrugging, he went back to work. It wasn't much longer until he finished the repairs. Picking the saddle up, he turned around, planning on delivering the fixed saddle to Ruffnut.

However, he turned to find Ruffnut standing in front of him. Her smile was a little unsettling. Hiccup held the saddle against his chest, eyes locked on Ruffnut's face.

"Is something-wrong?" Hiccup managed. Ruffnut's smile grew into a grin as she took a few steps toward the nervous rider.

"Do you want to know why I really came here?" she asked, only about a foot away now. Hiccup's gaze flicked to the girl's hand as she placed it on the saddle and pushed it down.

"I-I, uh," he stammered, backing away and bumping into the table again. Ruffnut continued to advance, getting closer and closer until there was only about an inch between them.

"Yes, the saddle had to be fized, but the reason I stuck around was to do this while Astrid wasn't around."

Hiccup opened his mouth to speak, but never got the chance because a split second later Ruffnut closed the gap between them. The boy's eyes widened with shock as Ruffnut's lips pressed against his.

The Thorston backed away once a few seconds had gone by, taking the saddle from Hiccup, whose face was beet red.

With a grin, Ruffnut said, "Thanks for fixing the saddle." She winked and turned around, walking away with the saddle over her shoulder.

When the twins arrived for dinner that night, Hiccup quickly turned away, hiding his face with his arm. The other kids ignored it, but Tuffnut gave his sister a curious look as they sat down. Ruffnut just laughed.


End file.
